Floor-tiling



No. 750,954. PATENTED FEB. 2, 1904. W. J. ELLIS. FLOOR TILING.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 13, 1903.

NO MODEL.

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INVENTDH- A'ITY UNITED STATES Patented February 2, I904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

FLOOR-TILING.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 750,954, dated February2, 1904, Application filed May 13, 1903. Serial No. 156,949. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

, Be it known that I, IVILLIAM J. ELLIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Floor-Tiling; and I dodeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to floor-tiling; and the object of the invention isto provide a removable and interchangeable tiling for floors which hasvarious desirable capabilities and advantages, such as forming acomplete and continuous covering as far as it goes, like a rug, mat, orcarpet; which is comparatively flexible and yielding to the foot andsoft enough to be noiseless; which is made up in sections or blocks thatmay be added to or taken from, so that an entire floor of any size maybe covered or only a small space; in which all the constituent surfaceparts are separate and separable, whereby any one part or socalled studcan be removed and substituted by another, and, finally, in which thewebbing or element which constitutes the binder for the studs in theirsubdivisions or sections is supplemented by a tie or connection adaptedto bring all the sections thus laid into unitary relation andarrangement, substantially as shown and described, and particularlypointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a series oftiling-sections connected and constructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section thereof on a line corresponding tow 00, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a couple of sections orpieces of webbing and a single corner-connecting plate or tie in workingrelation thereto with a stud apart therefrom and disclosing a bottomview thereof. Figs. 4 and 5 show modifications of the corner-connectingplates or ties seen in Figs. 1 and 2.

As thus shown, A represents the so-called studs, a name by which theseparts are commonly known and which in this instance are made of rubberand square and fiat top and bottom and provided at their centers withlugs or shanks a, preferably circular and likewise flat on their bottomto rest directly upon a floor and through which the entire structure issupported. Obviously, also, any other shape than a perfectly square onemay be adopted for the stud, if preferred, provided that the sameadvantages of construction be obtained or preserved as in the presentconstruction. Among these are close-fitting lugs at all their edges, soas to get the effect of a practically continuous one-piece covering andalso the facility for adding to and taking from the covering one or moresections or series of sections and leaving a finished structure in whichthere are no ragged edges in the webbing.

W represents the webbing by which the studs are connected or boundtogether in sections or blocks, as shown herein, but which sections maybe larger or smaller and of varying shapes. For example, the tilingmight be laid in sectional strips comprising a single line of studs ineach strip or there might be blocks or sections of varying sizes,according to the space to be covered. The webbing is shown here as aplain sheet of thin metal having holes 2 adapted to receive the lugs aof the studs and tie said studs together in sections or blocks.

Preferably I form the lugs a with a slight inward taper, so that theyare smallest at the immediate bottom of the stud and the eflect of whichis to cause the webbing to work upward in respect to the stud ratherthan downward and hold it against the under side of the studs. Thisaffords support for. the stud about 'its edge outside lug a and gives asurface which is uniform and even to the touch as one walks over itinstead of making the floor uneven and disagreeable to walk upon, aswould occur if the sides of the studs sagged under the footthat is, ifthe outer portion of the stud did not have a bottom support at leastsubstantially as firm as its middle. The said webbing is shown anddescribed as of sheet.

metal, which is its preferable form at present; but a webbing of wovenwire or the like would be its equivalent, especially since the oflice ofthe said Webbing is mainly to enable one to handle the studs in sectionswhen a floor is being laid and to keep said studs in their placesrelatively to one another and to the adjacent sections and holdup theedges of the studs under Weight of a person walking over or upon thesame; but I find it advantageous also to tie the tiling thus made uptogether here and there, so that at last all said sections become as onefloor-covering. For this purpose I use the tie-plate 3 shown in Figs. 1and 3, or the ties 4 and 5, according to the place and kind of use.

Plate 3 is square with four holes 6 matching holes 2 in size andlocation and adapted to fit over or upon lugs 60, as seen in Fig. 2, andthey may be beneath or over plate IV.

Plate or tie 4 has four circular hooks in lieu of holes and may besubstituted for plate 3, and tie 5 serves for connecting two sections attheir corners with a straight opposite edge and in which the holes arenot in alinement with those of the sections tied thereto.

By my invention I can work out various fanciful designs in shapes andcolors, if preferred, and there are large possibilities for taste andoriginality in this direction.

The studs in each section may have various shapes other than square, andeach section may form a part or block in a harmonious floor designcomprising part or all of the sections.

As shown herein, the outer edges of all the studs are flush with theedges of the webbing or plate; but their design may be such as to lapmore or less over upon the adjacent plate or webbing. In any event,however, the edges of the webbing are straight or uniform, so as to comesnugly together.

The rubber is soft or yielding enough to enter lugs a through holes 2 bysuch compression thereof as may be needed; but the said lugs need not betapered at all to serve my purpose very well.

WVhat I claim is 1. In floor-tiling, a tiling consisting of a severalsections or blocks of l cation this 1st day of May,

series of studs constructed to form a close and.

continuous floor-covering and provided each with a lug on its bottom,and a webbing through which said lugs are inserted and serving to unitesaid studs into a single section or block of floor-covering, the outeredges of said webbing being straight, substantially as described.

2. A floor-tiling consisting of a series of flat-surfaced studs matchingat their edges and provided with lugs centrally on their bottom, and aflat webbing having openings through which said lugs are inserted, andthe said Webbing resting against the bottom of said studs about the baseof said lugs, and the lugs extending through beneath the webbing,substantially as described.

3. The floor-covering, comprising studs with flat top and bottomsurfaces and having lugs with flat bottoms to rest upon, a webbingsupported on said lugs against the bottom of the studs having the lugsextending through the same to provide supports for the covering,substantially as described.

4:. The floor-covering substantially as described, comprising a seriesof separate sections consisting of studs and webbing uniting the studsand the webbing of said sections having straight edges, in combinationwith removable ties binding said sections together, thereby forming acontinuous and unitary covering, substantially as described.

5. In floor-coverings, a series of separate sections having separatestuds and a webbing in which said studs are inserted from the top, incombination with ties uniting said sections, the said studs having lugsprojecting through said webbing and ties, substantially as described.

itness my hand to the foregoing specifi- WVILLIAM J. ELLIS. WVitnesses:

R. vB. MosER, R. ZBORINK.

